Glenn Lyvers
Haiku Journal is edited by Glenn Lyvers, who reads every submission the journal receives — usually in the morning, usually with a cup of tea, always with the attention the form asks for.
Visit glennlyvers.com →What we look for.
We look for haiku that are unhurried, specific, and quietly confident — poems that don't raise their voice to be heard. We care less about whether a haiku is traditional or contemporary, and more about whether the poet has actually noticed something.
The best submissions we receive almost always share a quality that takes only a second to feel and a lifetime to learn: they trust the reader. They don't explain themselves. They place the image carefully on the page and step back.
Three quiet habits
Every submission, by hand
Nothing here is auto-declined, auto-replied, or read by a machine. Every envelope is read by a human who wanted to read it.
No house style
Traditional or contemporary, imagistic or abstract, gentle or fierce — what matters is whether the poem earns its silences.
A personal reply
Every poet hears back personally. We try to keep our rejections warm and our acceptances simple, because a haiku is not a competition.
Please don't be shy.
If you are new to haiku, send your work anyway. We read every envelope in the same light. We were all beginners once, and the best haiku we know were written by people who kept looking.
A submission does not need to be polished to be welcome. It needs only to be yours — your specific noticing, your small ordinary wonder, your breath of attention at the edge of the ordinary. If you have those, you have what we are reading for.
april storm rolling one sharp detail holds me still I read it thrice through
Glenn Lyverslate august sunlight ten moons drift in quiet water none ripple the air
Glenn LyversThank you for reading. Thank you for writing. And most of all, thank you for the quiet moment you gave a small poem.
Read, or send us a haiku.
Every issue is free online. Submissions are open.